Santa Clara Students Take Over San Francisco

By Joseph Forte

Costumed, neon-clad and otherwise decorated students from Santa Clara packed into Caltrain at the Santa Clara station at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning to take the express service to the San Francisco depot.

Santa Clara police detained five inebriated individuals at the station. None of the officers at the scene wished to comment.

One week before the race, Christine Dunn, spokesperson for Caltrain, said, "We're working very closely with Santa Clara University to get the word out to the students that although consumption of alcoholic beverages is permitted on Caltrain, intoxicated passengers will be cited and removed from the train."

Despite this warning, chaos ensued on the trains as Santa Clara students were joined by students from Stanford University and other Bay Area colleges on the way. Inebriated students were heard shouting the theme song to the PBS cartoon "Arthur," while another group disco-danced the length of the train.

Spectators and participants turned out in full force in San Francisco to watch the crowds walk the course of the race. "I think we should have it more often," said San Francisco resident Oliver Massey. Tony Lopez, a San Francisco resident and race participant, reflected on the race's lively, anything-goes atmosphere. "It's pretty amazing that everybody can express themselves in different ways," said Lopez. "I'm pretty sure I saw five or six pink gorillas just a while ago."

Contact Joseph Forte at JFForte@scu.edu.